How Madison’s Union Cab Co-op Competes in the Uber Era
The employees at Madison’s Union Cab Co-op have been called the world’s smartest cab drivers. Part of that reason is that these cabbies live and work in the highly-educated city of Madison, and among them have counted plenty of moonlighting teachers and writers.
But it’s also because the cooperative structure of the company that started in 1979 makes it a smart move for its employees. In addition to being owned by the employees, they put their values into practice, whether it’s offering free rides to the polls on Election Day, making sure their vehicle fleet has hybrid and wheelchair-accessible cabs, or posting a message in support of DEI initiatives on social media.
Union Cab President John Hershberger talked about the challenges a worker-owned taxicab company faces in the era of Uber and Lyft.
How common are cab co-ops? What other cities have them or are considering them?
Not very common. They seem to come and go. I do know that one in New York started up in 2021, and I believe it is still going. Seems that it was a tech driven operation (develop an app that would compete with Uber/Lyft, then find drivers), which is the opposite of how Union Cab was formed.
How do you put your values into practice?
We pride ourselves in being an inclusive, welcoming, and safe space for our workers and our riders. We believe that everyone deserves respect, regardless of race, age, or orientation.
We believe that everyone, regardless of their ability, should be able to order a taxi on demand. We operate the only fleet of on demand wheelchair accessible cabs in the state.
We are a meter cab company. We do not do surge pricing.
How is business with the threat from rideshare companies? How does the future look?
When the rideshares came in, we had to change some of our practices in order to continue to flourish. We changed our posture from being a primarily “demand” business to a pre-book business.
We do a ton of account business. All the hospitals in Madison trust us to provide rides for their patients. We do a lot of business with school districts.
We have a lot of regular riders who do not drive for a variety of reasons. They count on us to be there, be on time, and we do our best to accommodate them.
Why is it important to have a cab co-op in Madison in 2025?
We believe that workers can and should benefit when their company makes profits.
Every dollar spent on Union Cab goes back into the cooperative to support local jobs, which goes back into our communities, not to someone on Wall Street. When you call Union Cab, you talk to a person in Madison. We believe local matters.
